"Extreme Earth Changes?"

Though it's difficult to tell if the weather has taken a permenant turn for the weird, this past decade has seen a "quantum jump in extreme weather events,"  according to IOP Science.

This month alone, droughts, deluges, and heat waves have all made headlines.

The common denominator? Extreme.

For instance:

• More than 46% of California is in an exceptional, 4-year old (and counting) drought, the highest classification according to the California Drought Monitor. Neighbors are now being "encouraged" to tattle on water wasters,  in worst drought in 1200 years.

• Severe weather in Texas, Oklahoma, and Mexico left behind a trail of destruction this week leaving at least 31 dead, many more missing, 1500 homes damaged or destroyed, and thousands displaced. Some areas saw the most rain ever recorded in one month.

• A killer heat wave swept across India this week killing over 1400 people. Temps reached a scorching 122 degrees that left even the roads melted.

• And then there's the volcanos. We've got 40 erupting right now around the globe. Historically, the number of volcanos in a typical year is only 35,  so 40 in one month is definitely extreme.

• Oh, and let's not forget earthquakes. Nepal's 7.8 was so violent the Himalayas sank three feet and the death toll topped 8000. Earthquakes 8.0 and above have struck at a record rate since 2004. Usually you'll get only one 8.0 per year. Since 2004? 2-4 per year.

This May has also been a deadly month for fish, birds, and bees, with mass die-offs circling the globe.

And finally, what about those spooky noises coming from the sky that people across the globe claim they are hearing?

Reported earlier this month in Daily Mail, as "sounding like a trumpet or a collective from a brass section of an orchestra...the eerie sounds have been continuously heard at all different times and locations for almost a decade."

Very extreme. But as a wise man once said: "Nature is a slave to decay and death because of sin and is under the curse described in Genesis 3:17-19. Creation is as impatient as we are to be delivered from the bondage of corruption."  --Philip W. Comfort, PhD.

"All creation anticipates the day when it will join God's children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time."  Romans 8:21-23

News:

• Associated Press: Punishing Storms in Texas Test Government Emergency Response; officials scrambled to deal with historic flooding, calls for evacuation along Texas rivers.
• Reuters: Russia masses heavy firepower on border with Ukraine, while Moscow issues travel warning over U.S. "hunt for Russians."
• Fox News Channel: Avian flu devastates poultry and egg producers; 35% of egg supply affected.

"Does the Bible Predict Climate Change?"

If you're concerned about California's record-breaking drought, you should be.

Last month the US Drought Monitor caused a bit of a dust-up with more bad new--the state's drought conditions have not improved at all:

• An unprecedented 95% of California is suffering from at least severe drought, with...
• 23.5% of the state experiencing the worst drought category: exceptional drought and another
• 69% of the state in extreme drought

Last month, some areas of California lost half of their already low snow pack water in a single week due to high temperatures.

And to top it off? NOAA's Climate Prediction Center predicted that the drought in California--and much of the Southwest--will either persist or worsen in the next three months.

One website, Climate Progress, blames it all on us humans and our carbon footprint and predicts even worse problems "if we don't reverse carbon pollution emissions trends ASAP."

"The only bright spot," according to the website, "is that we appear to be headed towards an El Nino, which may suggest wet conditions in California later this year."

Oh...well at least there's a bright spot...

Not so fast, says Climate Progress: "Of course, an El Nino typically means dangerously extreme weather in other parts of the world--especially if it turns out to be a Super El Nino as some forecast. Thanks to our greed and myopia, our children and future generations face an ever-worsening plague of extreme weather events."

CBS News: El Nino could bring more record breaking weather to US

Is it really our greed and myopia in regards to carbon pollution or our sin and God's coming judgment that is causing our climate to change?

"First I want to remind you that in the last days there will be scoffers who will laugh at the truth and do every evil thing they desire. This will be their argument: 'Jesus promised to come back, did He? Then where is He? Why, as far back as anyone can remember, everything has remained exactly the same since the world was first created.'"

"They deliberately forget that God made the heavens by the word of His command, and He brought the earth up from the water and surrounded it with water. Then He used water to destroy the world with a mighty flood. And God has also commanded that the heavens and earth will be consumed by fire on the day of judgment, when ungodly people will perish...the Lord isn't really being slow about His promise to return as some people think. No, He is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to perish, so He is giving more time for everyone to repent. But the Day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief." (2 Peter 3:3-10)

A wise man once said:

" A great deal of knowledge, which is not capable of making a man wise, has a natural tendency to make him vain and arrogant." -- Joseph Addison, English poet

News:

• Weekly Standard: Director of Phoenix VA Hospital where vets died from delays received $8500 bonus in April; bonus rescinded after outcry.
• Reuters: Russia plans to build up to eight nuclear reactors for Iran; affect on nuclear negotiations unclear.
• The Washington Times: Russia tests intercontinental ballistic missile warhead. No additional details were provided by Russia.